Lack of critical thinking makes Thailand's competitiveness ranking slip

[Airbagwill]

I get the impression that most people commenting on this thread don't actually know what critical thinking is.

[atyclb]

1 hour ago, JRG23 said:

Has anyone read 1984? Cheap liquor, prostitution, lottery tickets........ 

 

where, when, i have been looking for cheap liquor, cheap prostitution but they cant even get that right

Edited October 10, 2019 by atyclb

[rgrdns]

2 hours ago, yellowboat said:

Thailand is a playground for the rich and powerful.  If you are not one of them, you are a serf.  The article is a nice idea, but those in power enjoy a status quo where their children are educated by tutors, go to elite schools and then off to some other country, leaving the average Thai crumbs. 

 

A Thai friend who had to leave school at 10 years old to support her family said development is only for Bangkok, not for any other areas. 

"Thailand is a playground for the rich and powerful"....BUT not only Thailand....GLOBALLY!

[atyclb]

"Thailand’s score on critical thinking in the classroom was the world’s lowest at 37 out of 100 points"

 

they proudly beat out even failed states.

 

hub of no thinking

 

this is also root cause of all the road deaths 

[kevin612]

I am surprised Thailand is the top 40 with scams everywhere and people are uneducated.

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

“It’s like a running competition – if our pace is slower, others will overtake us, so we have to run faster,” he said.

The secret is not in running faster.... just get the direction correct, going backwards is not the right way !!

[Chongalulu]

36 minutes ago, Airbagwill said:

I get the impression that most people commenting on this thread don't actually know what critical thinking is.

The first requirement of critical thinking is to analyse and assess the issue you are addressing. Your comment has failed at the start point by communicating none of that - so welcome to 'the most' you referenced. ???? 

[atyclb]

45 minutes ago, Airbagwill said:

I get the impression that most people commenting on this thread don't actually know what critical thinking is.

r u insinuating tvf lacks critical thinking?

[Orton Rd]

The Nation itself is not allowed critical thinking, if it did they would face closure and imprisonment. Critical thinking is not allowed by law as it constitutes computer crimes, LM and causing confusion and unrest in the masses.

[Srikcir]

2 hours ago, englishoak said:

spell weaknesses properly 

"wickednesses"?

[BobbyL]

6 hours ago, daoyai said:

can't have critical thinking without free thought and speech... laws and culture need to change, 

Spot on. Something like this will take generations to eradicate. 

[Spike1938]

3 hours ago, Lungstib said:

As I see it Thai learning is mostly concerned with knowing who you have to get down on your knees to, standing to attention in front of the flag, marching to the beat of the drum and knowing your place in society. Most of all you have to understand that as a student you couldn't possible have a good idea, know how to fix a problem or be better informed than anyone in a uniform. No matter what age a student must wear the clothes of a child reminding them of their inferiority.

That is exactly right. Too much time on Buddhism, the Royal Family (which I accept as being a part of the culture) and not enough on world history and geography. Ask a 12 y.o. Thai where the province they live in is on a map and 8 out of 10 can't I bet. My Thai niece had an English teacher who couldn't speak English. I offered to help and was told they didn't want a falang teaching Thai children. BTW - I taught English to Mexican immigrants in California. I am qualified.

[Eligius]

1 hour ago, J Town said:

As a teacher in Thailand, I would occasionally put an obviously wrong answer up on the board and watch their little brain gears start to grind.

I have often had a really wicked thought that if a university lecturer were to say to the Thai students something like, 'As you all know, the Buddha lived 500 years ago and came to Thailand to teach his ideas, and that is why Thailand became a Buddhist country' - barely a single student would bat an eyelid or realise (or even care) that this is complete erroneous nonsense.

 

One could also say: 'As you know, America landed a man on Mars and on Jupiter 48 years ago, and we discovered then that it is fairly easy for humans to survive on foreign worlds.' Again - nary a student would even question that.

 

Isn't Thai education wonderful?!

 

 

[maddox41]

5 hours ago, olfu said:

...critical thinking?---well, when I see good looking chick my critical thinking dissipates like morning fog.

The issan fog??? 

[maddox41]

Wow top 40 <deleted>... 

Critical thinking = mai pen rai

Or have a meeting and dicuss the issue for the 100th  time with no result or don't even think at all.. 

As the old farang saying goes  not  the sharpest tools in the shed at best of times 

[Creasy]

Keep them dumb and pay them peanuts while the 1% make out like bandits 

[orientalist]

3 hours ago, Jimbo in Thailand said:

You only have to teach in the public schools here to understand why there is zero critical thinking and why Thai students perform at the bottom of the heap.  In a class of 40 students, for example, when you give a quiz you will typically only have 3 or 4 students who actually answer the questions.  The rest of the students will copy those students' papers.  When you check the results it will be obvious there will be 3 or 4 groups of matching papers with identical mistakes in each group.  Sad but true.

 

T. I. T. ????????????

How much better are private schools? My stepdaughter is in Por 1 at a school (with an English Course) that claims to teach critical thinking, but is it worth the 19,000 baht per term?

[Caldera]

They cannot get rid of the lack of critical thinking without that leading to the people - now critical thinkers - getting rid of those currently in power. It would be a dangerous move.

[Cereal]

Critical thinking in Thailand? Yeah, I'll just hold my breath waiting for that to happen. Isn't this the country where one of their national carrier aircraft slid off the runway and they had a baci to expel the evil spirits and invite the lost pi back home?

 

I think it's in poorer shape regarding critical thinking than Laos, and that is really saying something.

[Eligius]

15 minutes ago, Caldera said:

They cannot get rid of the lack of critical thinking without that leading to the people - now critical thinkers - getting rid of those currently in power. It would be a dangerous move.

Yes, Caldera (above). It would mean a TOTAL revolutionary rejection and condemnation (and incarceration for life) of bad people (not the Good People, of course! Thailand could not survive without them ...!).

 

Edited October 10, 2019 by Eligius

[Joker Man]

5 hours ago, davehowden said:

Looks like the "unsafe drinking water" is to blame ??

You make my day with this wise words...????????????????????????

[SunsetT]

5 hours ago, Somtamnication said:

Education by rote; don't raise your hand in classrooms or you get canned; and so on. Some societies do not want people thinking outside of the box. Just sayin'

Exactly! Cross reference this thread with all the other threads on the ever-increasing regulation/harrassment of Caucasian (farang) expats and also the fall in english teaching and speaking standards in Thailand. Every year when I come for the Winter I notice less and less Western english World news channels on the hotel and apartment TVs that I stay in, yet German, French, and Italian remain. The 4th hotel today is the 1st this year with any and only has Fox news which, as every farang knows is purely a US political and not a news channel anyway. Thailand is mostly owned and run by Chinese Thais. China's status and influence in the World and Thailand is increasing day by day. I have read that the Chinese Thais do not want to raise the appalling Thai education standards for fear of losing their ability to control and exploit the Thais for cheap labour. The West represents Democracy, Equality, Freedom of speech and movement, Minimum  wages, eradication of corruption, and Free trade, etc. etc., All of these values are antithetical to the Chinese and to the current Thai rulers. They dont want Thais learning about and adopting these values by learning english, or by learning to think critically, or from hearing Western English TV news or from the internet or from English speaking Expats living here. They think they dont need us and they dont want us here anymore.

Edited October 10, 2019 by SunsetT

[Yinn]

3 hours ago, Tayaout said:

I'm sure @Yinn will come explain this is all a misunderstanding. ????

 

I'm still debating if I should homeschool (best) my children or skip (neutral) schooling altogether. 

This a survey. Not really science. Impossible to know if true or worse or better.

 

but I know thailand have lot of opportunity if you work/study hard. 

Easy to get the job, everyone need good worker. Need foreigner worker because job to much. 

 

At school some my friend study hard. Some just want to play computer game all day. Some take drug.

 

if you study hard can get good job. If you work your business hard you can be success.

if you lazy to work/study/not try to have successful business, then you not have success. Up to you. 

[Airbagwill]

I've hardly seen a single post on this thread that demonstrates critical thinking, or an understanding of it....they are mostly just examples of exactly th problem that Thailand faces.....of course it is not just Thailand; critical thinking is unfashionable on a worldwide scale, just look at Trump and Brexit. 

Those who want or who are in power know that the internet has marked the return of the sale-oil salesmen and the general public can be manipulated in ways we haven't seen since Victorian England or 19530s Europe.

So when Thailand lacks critical thinkers, it's not such a worry as all their competitors are suffering from the same problem too.

Edited October 10, 2019 by Airbagwill

[Airbagwill]

If anyone is actually interested in skeptcality and critical thinking here is an introductory video.

 

learn how to identify your own or others' confirmation bias and understand the laws of large numbers.......etc.

 

 

 

Edited October 10, 2019 by Airbagwill

[scorecard]

Quote:  "Assistant Professor Wilert Puriwat, dean of the Chulalongkorn Business School, ,,,,,,,,,, said that (among several points), If Thailand wants to improve its ranking, labour skills must be improved. 

 

“The survey found that skills among new university graduates have declined, especially in the area of critical thinking,” he said.

 

The way students are taught needs to change, he said, noting that Thailand’s score on critical thinking in the classroom was the world’s lowest at 37 out of 100 points. In assessing skills possessed by the future workforce, the survey names Finland first for critical thinking in teaching, with 89 points." 

 

I can attest to "...The survey found that skills among new university graduates have declined, especially in the area of critical thinking,” he said"

 

My experience (and that of many other professors) In bachelor of business programs it's totally frustrating to see the lack of ability to analyse and to anticipate. Even more sad is that when professors talk to the students about this the students can't / don't understand what's wrong.  Where does this all stem from? The answer is well known for decades; rote learning in Thai primary and high schools.

 

I've conducted a few sessions of giving a situation and the students have to use there open imagination, no boundaries to their thinking to suggest what might happen next. Most times there are no suggestions of what might / could happen next; because they are not capable of analysis and critical / imaginative thinking.

 

My own Thai son is a good example of this, he completed the last several years of high school in Singapore then returned to Thailand to attend uni (5 year bachelor of education), he repeatedly shared at home that he wanted to make points in the classroom which sprang from his Singapore ed. methodology exposure to developing  analysis and critical / imaginative thinking. But was not allowed to comment or ask questions knowing that if he did he would be punished and a couple of times he was punished.

 

He often shared his thoughts with his Bkk uni. buddies outside the classrooms, their response ".... do you have a book with these ideas, etc...". He tried to explain about how ed. works in Singapore, bottom line his buddies had no idea what he was talking about.  

 

My own awareness is that when challenged the seniors at OBEC (office of Basic Education) who are responsible for setting methodology (pedagogy) refuse outright, even angrily to accept that there is any problem. Is there is any discussion (at this high level) it will come down to 'students should be quiet and listen and not ask questions which is disrespectful to teachers'.

 

There's a long way to go. 

 

 

Edited October 10, 2019 by scorecard

[Bassosa]

15 minutes ago, Yinn said:

This a survey. Not really science. Impossible to know if true or worse or better.

 

but I know thailand have lot of opportunity if you work/study hard. 

Easy to get the job, everyone need good worker. Need foreigner worker because job to much. 

 

At school some my friend study hard. Some just want to play computer game all day. Some take drug.

 

if you study hard can get good job. If you work your business hard you can be success.

if you lazy to work/study/not try to have successful business, then you not have success. Up to you. 

Sure, work hard and you'll do well, but the paper was about Thailand's competitive edge. Lack of critical thinking is hampering the countries' growth and other countries are overtaking Thailand.

[Eligius]

It is often said - one hears it incessantly - that the problem with Thai education is the prevalence of rote learning.

The funny thing is that I have noticed for years and years that even in this the Thai students fail: hardly any of them can successfully and meaningfully remember and retrieve information when needed. They cannot even do 'rote learning' well - let alone 'critical thinking'!

[topt]

21 minutes ago, Airbagwill said:

If anyone is actually interested in skeptcality and critical thinking here is an introductory video.

 

learn how to identify your own or others' confirmation bias and understand the laws of large numbers.......etc.

 

 

 

Thanks for posting that. Unfortunately I think he has his own confirmation bias on some areas  

[Jimbo in Thailand]

56 minutes ago, orientalist said:

How much better are private schools? My stepdaughter is in Por 1 at a school (with an English Course) that claims to teach critical thinking, but is it worth the 19,000 baht per term?

Some are really good.  If the school has a farang teacher, or 2, it's going to be much better.  Just do a little research first before deciding on a particular school.

 

Regarding price, 19,000 baht seems a little steep but OK.  If the school is excellent it's worth it.

 

  Good luck! ????

Edited October 10, 2019 by Jimbo in Thailand